Grim Findings
by Mrs-diAngelo25
Summary: Addie and James travel up north with their cousin and friend to save their parents and little brother. Along the way, they run into some-interesting creatures. With the help of their friends and a certain god of imagination, will the siblings be able to save their family? Will Kyra and Nico hold out that long? Rated T for language and torture scenes, part 2 in epilogue trilogy.
1. Chapter 1

**Grim Findings**

**Chapter One**

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own the PJO or HoO series by Rick Riodan. I _do,_ however,own all of the OCs, minus Walker (he belongs to Star Holder Commander).

* * *

Adrienne's POV

Somehow Tristan had managed to talk Uncle Will into letting us borrow one his cars. How he had possibly managed that, I don't know.

Uncle Will had several cars, like at least ten. There were a couple of vintage ones, and then the rest were modern ones that you actually see on the streets. He had let Tristan borrow his dark blue Toyota Groudbreaker. It was the newest car on the market, and apparently the safest. It was pretty roomy too, which was nice.

Sometimes I wondered why Tristan was a grandson of Apollo, rather than Aphrodite. He was always able to talk someone into something, almost like he had charmspeaking powers. It was possible that he had inherited charmspeaking from his mom, Lily, since she's a daughter of Aphrodite.

"Dude, no. We're not listening to that." Tristan says, glancing over at James.

I snap out of my thoughts and start listening to what they're arguing about.

"But Tris, Clockwork Of The Licked is awesome!" James protests.

I sigh, rolling my eyes. This had been going on since we left camp. One of the downers to having two descendants of Apollo in a car at the same time was that it was likely they'd fight over what band to listen to.

"No, we're listening to Others Anxiety,"

"Will you two just decide already! I'm getting sick and tired of hearing you bicker. It's been going on for ten minutes," Jade says.

"Yea, yea. Sorry. How about we meet in the middle and go with Trippy Wish?" Tristan suggests.

"Yea, I guess that'll be alright," James shrugs.

"About time. We only have thirty more minutes in the car before we get to the ferry." Jade grumbles.

James starts up the music and one of the weird melodies starts playing through the speakers. Trippy Wish was one of the bands James listened to every once and a while, and I could always hear the haunting lyrics through my bedroom walls.

Mom liked to listen to them too. She and James have a lot in common when it comes to music. You can tell it's very important to both of them. I guess if someone already loves music, being a descendant of Apollo just adds onto that love.

"So where exactly are we going?" I ask.

James shrugs. "Not sure really. Walker just said to take the ferry from Port Jefferson to Bridgeport, Connecticut, and then go to New Haven. I guess he'll just meet us there and tell us where to go to next,"

"Don't you think it's weird he's not traveling with us? Or better yet, since he's a god, why can't he just zap us to where your parents are?" Jade asks.

"Well, even though he's a god, I think there's probably a limit as to how many people you can "zap" to places. Zeus has all the gods on a tight leash. And even though Walker seems like the kind of god who doesn't really like Zeus, they all still have to abide his wishes to some extent, considering he's the ruler of the gods. He could do anything to them if they don't follow his orders. Make them mortal even, and throw them somewhere in the world to figure everything out on their own," James says.

"Yea, I guess you're right." she sighs.

The car falls silent and Tristan turns up the music a little. I try to follow the lyrics, but it was tricky because the lead singer switched from singing to screaming a lot.

_"'Found you in the park_  
_Under the willow_  
_The willow_

_Where we first met_

_You had your eyes closed_  
_Relaxed as could be_  
_Just like you were sleepin'_

_But you weren't sleepin'"_

"Can we _please_ listen to something else? This is so depressing." Jade says.

"No," Tristan and James bark simultaneously.

"Fine, fine. Don't bite my head off about it." she says, raising her hands up in defeat.

A few more songs pass, and before I know it, we've reached the ferry.

Tristan pulls into the line with the other cars awaiting one of the ferries to get back. There was a guy in an orange vest with reflective plates attached to it going from car to car. I guess to check and see how many people were in each car and to collect the fare.

Tristan rolls down his window while pulling out his wallet to pay the man.

"Good afternoon, sir," the man says, smiling warmly.

"Good afternoon," Tristan says, nodding at the man.

"How many you got?" he asks, trying to peek into the car.

"Four,"

"Alright, that'll be ten dollars."

Tristan pulls out a ten dollar bill from his wallet and hands it to the man.

"Thank you. The ferry should be here in a few minutes." the man says, nodding and walking away.

Tristan rolls up his window and puts his wallet back into his back pocket.

"That wasn't as expensive as I thought it was going to be," James says.

"Yea, I thought it was going to be at least double that," Jade says.

"Nah. Since they get so many people come through here every day going from either Long Island or Connecticut, they really don't have to charge very much," Tristan says, "I usually take the ferry to get to Long Island in the summer for Camp,"

"You live in Connecticut?" Jade asks.

"No, I live in Massachusetts. My mom or dad just drive me down to Connecticut then I take the ferry to Port Jefferson and get a taxi to Camp,"

"How long have you been doing that?" she asks.

"Since I was about fourteen I think,"

"Oh."

The ferry pulls into the dock right at that moment, and soon we're pulling forward again and getting onto the ferry. Tristan turns the car off once he'd parked and pulls up the emergency brake.

"You guys wanna get out?" Tristan asks.

"Yea, why not?" James says, unbuckling his seat belt and opening his door.

Jade and I unbuckle ours as well and follow James and Tristan.

"I'm surprised, there haven't been any attacks yet. Usually one comes after us right after we cross the boarder at Camp," I say.

"Don't tempt them, Addie," Tristan says.

"Do you seriously think one heard me?" I ask, giving him a sarcastic look.

"Well, you never know." he shrugs.

* * *

Thirty minutes later and we were almost to Connecticut. Everyone had started getting back into their cars, and that's where we were heading when the captain spoke up over the loud speaker.

"We're experiencing some technical difficulties, so we might have to stop transportation for a few moments while we fix the problem." he says.

"Joy, technical difficulties. I bet that means we'll be stuck out here for another hour before they start up the engines again," James says, smacking the back of his head against the head rest.

"Dude, it'll be fine. Usually it's only a stall in the engine. It happens all the time." Tristan says.

There's a rumbling and the boat starts to shake.

"Uh, does that happen all the time?" I ask.

Tristan had gone slightly pale. "No, it doesn't,"

"C'mon, let's go see what it is," I say, getting out of the car.

"Adrienne, no!" Jade yells.

But it was too late. I had already opened my door and stepped into a cloud of green mist. My vision goes black and I fall to the ferry deck.

**A/N:**

**I'm back, baby! Miss me? I know, I know, the wait was longer than two weeks, but I've been busy and have had a lack of motivation to write. Also, before I get into talking about the chapter, I want to discuss the update schedule.**

**Okay, since I've started working, my schedule is kinda wack. I know that I almost always work on Fridays, but sometimes I have to be up there on Tuesdays or Wednesdays all day. By the time I get home, I'm pretty exhausted. My life in general is just kinda wack right now, and I don't have all the time in the world to write, even though I'd rather it be that way. I suppose that's growing up, not having much time to do things. Let me tell you, it fucking sucks.**

**Anyway, I've decided that I'll only be updating once a week now, on Mondays. It'll give me more time to write and prepare the chapters, and it'll also be less stress on me. During A New Beginning I felt rushed to write and I don't think it came out quite as good as my previous stories. I've been told that it _was _really good and interesting to read - and that made me feel a little better about it - but that doesn't change the fact that I _know_ I could have done better on it. It was also becoming a chore to write instead of a fun hobby, and that's when you know something's wrong. That was also another reason why I took a longer break. **

**So, now that that's over with, on to the chapter! **

**This time around we'll be switching back and forth between Adrienne and Nico's POVs. I think it'll be interesting. It's proving a bit tricky writing in Nico's POV, since he's not one of my own characters and the only other time I've written in his POV was in** **Broken****. But I'm determined to do it.**

**Obviously, the "Toyota Groudbreaker" does not exist. I made it up as a futuristic Toyota, because I'm pretty sure they won't be driving cars we have now, since this is placed about ten years after the epilogue in Salvation.  
**

**And the bands Tristan and James were talking about are completely made up. There aren't any bands named "Clockwork of the Licked" or "Others Anxiety" or "Trippy Wish" as far as I know. If there are, that's fucking rad. And I made up the lyrics to the "Trippy Wish" song, by the way.**

**What do you think happened there at the end of the chapter? What was that green mist and why was the ferry shaking?**

**Oh, and I forgot to add this to the beginning of the AN. If you're new to my stories, I _strongly_ suggest that you go back and read my series The Shadows of Revolution - the first one is The Adventure - and then once you finish the five in the series, go and read the first part of the epilogue trilogy, A New Beginning. _Then _you may come back and read this one. That way you won't be confused as to what's going on.**

**And for my old readers, thank you so much for returning with me, and I hope you enjoy the ride! **

**Oh! So I started learning guitar! It's fun, but it's a bit hard. I suppose learning how to play any instrument is difficult. I just learned how to read guitar tabs the other day, and also how to play Amazing Grace! **

**I must go now, but I'll talk to you guys again on Monday!**

**M/A:**

**Online Songs**** by Blink-182.**

**XOXO,**

**Mrs-diAngelo25**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own the PJO or HoO series by Rick Riodan. I _do_ own all of the OCs mentioned, except for Walker. He belongs to Star Holder Commander.

* * *

Nico's POV

I slowly lift my head, it felt like there were a million cement blocks weighing it down. My vision was tinged in black, and it was blurry. The lights were dimmed again, which was a relief because of how bright they are when they're turned all the way on. I could vaguely make out Kyra and Mike, and that made me feel slightly better.

"Ky," I croak out.

She doesn't move.

"Mike," still nothing.

"_Michael Oliver di Angelo_, answer me," I say, grinding my teeth and forcing myself to stand up straighter, even though it hurt like hell.

He looks up, and I breathe a sigh of relief. He was okay. Now I needed to know why Kyra wasn't responding.

"Mike, what happened to mama?" I ask.

I hear him sniffle and he looks over at Kyra. "The mean man wrapped wires 'round her arms. She moved and they cut her skin real bad. Then she laid down and fellded asleep."

I breathe in sharply. I'd witnessed that torture being done before in Punishment, it wasn't pretty. You could hardly move, otherwise your skin would be ripped to shreds. When you're tied up like that, your muscles get tired of being in one position and you eventually give in to your screaming body and fall out of place.

It makes it even worse if you strain against it, you lose more blood that way. I can't tell from here how deep the cuts are and I can't see how much blood she's lost. She might _still_ be bleeding.

"Where is the man who did it, Mike? Did he leave?" I ask.

He nods and moves his head towards the door behind him. "He went that way a long time ago,"

"Did he say where he was going?"

He shakes his head. "Nope. He just left."

I look back down at my feet. My vision was slowly, but surely, clearing. I could see blood splattered all over the floor and on my shoes. I was actually surprised Daemon hadn't taken them off and cut off a few of my toes. Wouldn't put it past him to save that for later.

I glance back up right as the door creaks open. There were two silhouettes of people standing in the door frame. They both step in and start making their way over to us. As they get closer, I see that one of them was Daemon, the other I didn't recognize. Daemon stops right behind Kyra and looks down at her, a sadistic grin on his face.

"Excellent handiwork, D," the other guy says, nudging Daemon's shoulder.

He laughs and kicks Kyra. "It is pretty good looking, ain't it?"

I glower at them, wishing more than anything that I could break out of these chains and rip off their faces.

"Ah, so the ghost king is awake," Daemon says, walking over to me.

"What did you do to her?" I say, straining against the chains.

"Oh, your wife over there? She was being difficult, so I wired her up. I knew she'd pull against 'em when I went back to beat on you. I got two birds with one stone," he chuckles.

"You bastard," I growl.

"I believe you've already called me that, don't have a better insult than that? That's pretty sad,"

"There are _so_ _many_ things I want to call you, but I'm not going to,"

"Ah, because of your son? Well, it's a good thing we're about to take care of that."

He turns away from me and starts making his way back over to Mike and Kyra. My head snaps up and I pull as hard as I can against my restraints. I knew it was hopeless, but it was worth a shot.

Mike tries to back away from Daemon, but can't because of how short the chains are. The other man that had come in with Daemon grabs Mike from behind and holds him still while Daemon unlocks the shackles.

"Daddy!" he screams, trying to kick his captive.

"No! You let him go, he hasn't done anything!" I yell, pulling against the chains.

"Mike!" I bellow.

I watch helplessly as he's dragged out of my sight. There was no telling where they were taking him, and what they were going to do to him.

"Osiris wanted to start training up little Michael, getting him used to his special power. That boy will change the world if trained properly," Daemon says.

"What is he going to do to him," I say, still pulling against the chains.

"Well, that really isn't any of your business,"

"He's my son, you ass,"

"Oh, so the little ghost king _does_ have other insults," he chuckles, "I have to get going, but I'll be back later."

He wiggles his fingers at me as he heads towards the door. He opens it and a flood of white light streams into the room. I seethe as he closes the door behind him.

When I get out of here with Kyra and Mike, I'm going to slaughter Daemon and Osiris. Even if I die doing it, it'll be worth it knowing those scumbags will forever be off of this planet.

**A/N:**

**Shortish chapter today, but oh well. **

**So, they finally took Mike away, Nico's chained up and can't do anything about it, and Kyra's unconscious from blood loss. The next few chapters in Nico's POV will be kinda boring, in my opinion. It's simply because they're chained up and can't really _go_ anywhere. It does get a little interesting in chapter six though...**

**So how was everyone's week? Honestly, mine was pretty fucking awful. Mostly because my mind is trying to drag me back into a bad place again. I've got some stuff going on right now and some tough decisions to make, and that's weighing me down pretty badly. Thursday was really bad. Both of my parents were working all day, so my mom dropped me off at class (which was horrendous) and my brother picked me up. When I got home I just completely broke down. I then spent the rest of the night watching How I Met Your Mother on Netflix and eating Ben&Jerry's Red Velvet ice cream. ****I'll pull through this though, I always do. So don't worry. Just kinda needed to vent about it. **

**My parents are dragging me to Atlanta, ****Georgia next weekend for this concert. My mom bought me a ticket, even after I told her I wouldn't go. I've listened to the guy, and he's good and all, but it's not something I want to sit through, y'know? But after that, I think the concert is on Friday, we're going to stay through Saturday and do something then come back home on Sunday. **

**So yea, that's pretty much it. I got my hair cut today though. It's even shorter now than it was before, and it looks pretty kick ass! **

**M/A:**

_**"'Can't get this shit off my mind  
I just want to be alright  
So just tell me nothing's wrong  
Then get undressed and spend the night**_

I took a ride to meet an enemy  
I faced a fear of mine and shivered but didn't blink  
I took a ride to meet an enemy to end all the madness  
And now I know that I'll be fine  
I am fine'"

**Enemy**** by Eve 6.**

**XOXO,**

**Mrs-diAngelo25**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own the PJO or HoO series by Rick Riodan. I _do _own all of the OCs, besides Walker. He belongs to Star Holder Commander.

* * *

Adrienne's POV

I wake up feeling sick, people's screams in my ears, and the sound of weapons clashing against something metallic. I open my eyes, slightly drowsy, and look around. And then I scream.

I was dangling fifty feet above the Sound's dark blueish-gray water. Wrapped around me was an ice blue tentacle. The scales were sharp and felt like they were scraping off my skin. The suckers were nearly sucking holes into my stomach.

There was no telling what the passengers aboard the ferry were seeing. Obviously it was something terrifying, but it probably wasn't nearly as bad as what I was seeing.

"Addie!" someone screams.

I struggle to look behind me, and I see Jade, Tristan, and James hacking away at this serpent thing. It apparently had me by its tail, because its head was down there. It had a drakon-like head, but with a lot more spikes. There were also tentacles lining its sides, almost like a millipede.

I try wiggling again, to no avail. This thing had me in an iron grip. I wanted to scream and stab this thing and kill it. I didn't want to be stuck up here while the others rescued me. Suddenly, I feel something brush against my fingers. It wasn't slimy like the rest of the serpent, it felt more like wood. I grab at it, and pull it up.

It was my Stygian Iron dagger dad had given me for my ninth birthday. I always carried it with me, even to school because there have been times when a monster would suddenly decide to pop up in one of my classes.

I manage to stab it, but all that did was make its grip even tighter on me. I could barely breathe. I try to think. Obviously stabbing the outer side of the tail wouldn't work, its scales were like the Nemean Lion's coat. An idea pops into my head and I grin.

I wiggle the dagger underneath the tentacle and then push it up into the fleshy suckers. The thing gives a cry of pain, but its grip doesn't loosen much. I slide it over a little and stab it in a different sucker. This time it nearly lets me go all the way.

"One more time." I breathe, sliding the dagger over one more time.

I give one final stab and the thing rears its head back. It falls backwards, and it lets me go. I quickly bite the edge of the dagger - even though dad had told me _not _to do that - because I didn't have time to put it back in its sheath. I feel the serpent start to fall, so I hop on top of its back and jump as hard as I can toward the ferry deck. I feel myself fall, and my stomach drops like when I ride a roller coaster.

I frantically reach out to grab the siding of the deck. My fingers grip the edge, but not enough to keep me there. I feel myself slipping, and I start sliding down the boat. I claw at the sides in an attempt to catch onto something. A life preserver tied to a rope smacks me in the head, nearly knocking me off of the side of boat. I grab onto it and before I know it, I'm being pulled back up. I tumble onto the deck, banging my head against one of the large pipes.

"Ugh." I moan, clutching my head.

I feel someone's arms wrap around me, nearly suffocating me. "Hades, Adrienne. Don't _do_ that." James says. He was the one suffocating me.

"Can't—breathe," I gasp.

"Oh, sorry," He retracts his arms, then gives me a hand to pull me up.

"What _was_ that thing?" I ask, trying to get my breath back.

Tristan's eyes were hard. "I don't know. Come on, get back in the car. They'll be starting this thing back up again soon." He turns around and heads back to the car.

Jade follows and I turn to look at James. He gives me a confused look then shrugs, starting to go after the other two. I sigh and glance over the side of the boat. There was nothing there anymore, not even any yellow dust coating the top of the water. That was just a little strange, but I push it aside. The water was choppy. All of the dust could have easily been swept away by the waves by now. Whatever that thing had been, it definitely wasn't a Greek monster, at least not one I had ever heard of before.

**A/N:**

**A mystery serpent! You'll learn more about that later on. And what'd you think about Adrienne's stab action while she was trapped? The next few chapters are kinda short, like this one, but I don't really consider them fillers. I might see if I can flesh them out a little more though. **

**Sorry if I just seemed like a total vortex of gloom last week. It had just been a _really _long and tough week. I'm much better now, at least today I am. So that's good!**

**And a few days ago I asked my dad if it was possible to repaint my bike, and he said it was. Soo, he did that for me! I would have helped, but he just seemed so intent on doing it himself, so I didn't interfere. It was cotton candy pink - yech - but now it's a dark teal blue color! It's so pretty! I got it a couple of years ago before the "I despise the color pink" thing kicked in. So it's just been sitting in my basement slowly rusting. **

**But of course, as soon as it was finished, it decided to get chilly outside again. It's not _freezing _cold, but it's too cold to ride a bike. So now it's patiently waiting in my dad's tool shop, waiting to be used. **

**And this weekend we're going to Atlanta - I think I mentioned that last week but oh well - and we're staying at this really fancy hotel. Priceline is fucking awesome. So we're leaving on Thursday and I think the concert my parents are seeing is that night. Then on Friday I think we're going shopping and/or sightseeing. Then Saturday morning we're coming back home.**

**Then next month we're going to Texas. It's the same ordeal as last time, except this time we're not going to the beach. God I wish we were though. I'm excited to see my cousins and some of my aunts and uncles and my grandmother, but not so much my half-siblings. BUT! My mom and I are going back at the end of July, early August! And we're _only _seeing her family, we're not going to see my half-siblings. Well, my sister might come up and have lunch with us, but the one that's actually pleasant to be around. Not the one who created the notorious "Hell Week" last year with her two children and creepy as hell husband. **

**Oh! So the other day I bought Emily's Army's two albums Don't Be a Dick and Lost at 17. They're so good! From Don't Be a Dick, I really like Broadcast This, Burn Apollo, and Loch Lomond. Then from Lost at 17, my absolute favorite is Rain, but I also like Jamie, On the Roof, War, and If Our Music Plays Again. So yea, you should definitely check them out. They're still a relatively new pop-punk band, but they're pretty good.**

**M/A:**

_**"'This is age of make-believe  
Or a reality series  
Television, murder city  
Dreaming of tomorrow  
Am I alive or fantasy?**_

Give me murder give me loss  
Turn the cities into dust man'"

**Transistors Gone Wild**** by The Network.**

**XOXO,**

**Mrs-diAngelo25**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own the PJO or HoO series by Rick Riodan. I _do _own all of the OCs, with an exception for Walker. He belongs to Star Holder Commander.

* * *

Nico's POV

I had given up on pulling against the chains at least an hour ago. It was hopeless, these things were made out of titanium or something like that. Some strong metal that was unbreakable and unbendable. The only way out of these things was with the key.

Kyra still wasn't moving, and it was really starting to worry me. She hadn't been unconscious for this long since the time she charged into her burning house and got severe burns all over her body. Even then I knew in the back of my mind that she'd pull through. We had Chiron to heal her. But this time, there was no Chiron.

I lean my head back against the wall, sighing. I hoped, for the sake of his safety, that Mike was doing everything Osiris wanted him to do. I saw how fast the simplest thing could anger him. If Mike messed up and didn't do what he wanted, Osiris would probably kill him.

"Ung,"

My head snaps up and I look at Kyra. She had moved, she was awake. Even if she was just _barely _awake, she was alive. And that's all I could ask for.

"Kyra, don't move," I say.

"What?" she groans.

"_Don't move_. The wires will just cut deeper into your arms and you'll bleed more,"

"Then what the fuck do you expect me to do?"

"Just lay there,"

She sighs. "Fine."

A beat passes between us, and then I speak up again. "What all did he do to me? I passed out after the whipping,"

"You don't remember him burning you?"

I shake my head. "No, but that would explain why my back feels like hell,"

"That's not all. After he whipped your torso, he turned you around and whipped your back, _then_ be burned you. And he whipped you again, and then splashed this acid all over your back,"

"Holy shit, he sure went at it, didn't he?"

"Where's Mike?" She had _just_ noticed he wasn't with us. I couldn't blame her that she hadn't noticed sooner, she was in a lot of pain. I was surprised she could even talk without grinding her teeth.

I tense up at the mention of Mike. If I told her, she'd most likely freak out and pull against her chains, resulting with further damage to her arms. If I _don't_ tell her though, she'll probably still pull against the chains.

"Nico, where the hell is Mike?"

I sigh. "Daemon took him,"

"What?!"

"Don't struggle against the damn chains!"

She takes a deep breath to try and calm herself. "Why did he take him?"

"Osiris wanted to start training up his power,"

"Gods," she moans, dropping her head down.

"I—I know it seems bad – no, it really _is_ bad – but we're going to get through this. We're going to get out somehow and get Mike, and we're going to slaughter Osiris and then go home. All three of us," I knew that if I didn't give a sort of uplifting talk, she definitely wouldn't and we'd just sit here in the disgusting gloomy dimness.

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because I just do. There's always a way, sometimes it's just a little tricky finding it,"

She looks up at me, a glimmer of remembrance in her eyes. "You told me that right after what happened in the house came back to me, when I thought John had died,"

"And was I right then? Wasn't there a way?"

She nods. "Yea,"

"Okay then, let's start trying to figure out how to get out of this mess."

**A/N:**

**Broken**** nostalgia! I think out of that whole series, that one was my favorite. It was just really awesome to write. Salvation was pretty awesome too, I like to go back and read that one occasionally. **

**Okay, sorry. Back to the present story. Kyra's okay! And Nico is suddenly the upbeat one...Well, as upbeat as he can be about the situation at hand. This chapter felt like kind of a filler, but oh well. **

**So we came back early from Atlanta. It was raining, so all that we were going to do on Friday wasn't going to work out. We did go to this art museum before we left though, and that was pretty cool. The only problem I have about going to art museums with my parents is that they both like to stop and read every damn plaque describing the piece, my dad more so than my mom. And that's fine, do whatever you want, but I always take time to look at the piece, see what it's called and who it's by, then I move onto the next painting or statue. So I'm always ready to move on fairly quickly, and my parents are still _way _behind me. **

**The hotel we stayed at was _ginormous. _I'm not kidding. It was fucking twenty-two stories and it was connected to a mall with a food court. And everyone was so nice. Like, I was actually really surprised everyone was so nice. Even passing the maids and the repair men in the halls, they all smiled at you and said hello and wished you a good day. **

**Anyway, after that we ate lunch then started heading home. We got back at about dinner time. Then on Saturday, we test drove a couple of Hyundais (a Sonata and the Elantra) to see which one my mom would want when I get her car after I get my licence this summer. **

**Which reminds me! My mom got on our local DMV's website this morning to make my appointment for my test - we have to do that here, and it has to be done a certain amount of weeks before you wish to take the test - and she was reading up on it and I don't have to take the written test! Since I passed my learner's permit test, that allowed me to just skip that part of the test. So all I'll have to do is drive the state trooper around and follow the instructions they give me. That makes me feel _sooo_ much better, I was starting to get a little nervous about taking the written test. I knew that when it was just a matter of days before taking it, I would have been an anxiety ridden wreck. **

**So yea, that's been my week. I'm gonna go now, I feel like this AN has been going on for long enough. I'll talk to you again next week!**

**M/A:**

_**"'Raindrops on roses and girls in white dresses  
It's sleeping with roaches and taking best guesses  
At the shade of the sheets and before all the stains  
And a few more of your least favorite things'"**_

**Build God, Then We'll Talk**** by Panic! At the Disco.**

**XOXO,**

**Mrs-diAngleo25**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own the PJO or HoO series by Rick Riodan. I _do _own all of the OCs mentioned, except for Walker. He belongs to Star Holder Commander.

* * *

Adrienne's POV

As soon as the ferry docked, the gate was lowered and people started speeding off and onto the road. I could see the blue and red flash of police lights before I even saw the cars. No doubt the captain had radioed the authorities when the sea serpent attacked. Sometimes I wondered what mortals actually saw when a monster attacked. It definitely wasn't what we saw.

"We have to get out of here." Tristan says.

He was right. There were ferrymen pointing at our car and making gestures as if they were firing a gun.

"_Wonderful_." James sighs, sliding down in his seat.

As the line of cars in front of us start to pull forward, Tristan's foot is quick to hit the gas. We all wanted to get out of here. If the cops caught us or saw the license plate number on the car, they'd catch us and take us in to question us. We didn't need that right now.

We barrel off the ferry and onto the main road, speeding right past the police officers walking onto the deck.

"Gods, that was close," Jade breathes.

"We're not out of it yet. We won't be until we're back at Camp. My guess is that the closer we get to James and Addie's parents, the more attacks there will be. That's usually the case with a rescue mission,"

"James," Tristan says, glancing over.

"Yea?"

"Where did Walker say to meet him?"

"Uh, New Haven,"

"Perfect. I know a really good burger joint in New Haven."

* * *

The burger joint Tristan had been talking about was called Louis' Lunch, and he hadn't been kidding when he said it was good. It was a small building with a bar. You could probably only fit about thirty people inside, and that would be crowded.

We were sitting at the bar chowing down on our burgers when the little bell above the door chimed. All four of us turned around to see a man in his twenties. His hair was blonde and tousled, like he had just rolled out of bed. He was relatively tall and had a swimmer's body.

He comes over and sits next to James, and the bar-tender walks over to take his order. Once he leaves, the man turns to look at James.

"James," he nods. He had a southern accent, like he was from Texas or Alabama.

We all turn to stare at the man. "_Walker_?" I whisper.

He nods. "Yes, who else?"

"It's just—how did you..?" James stutters.

"Change appearance? I suppose I forgot to mention that I can do that,"

"So you're like a shape shifter?" Jade asks.

"Sort of, but not really. Since I'm the god of imagination, I can just picture myself as someone else and I change into that person, voice and all,"

"Wow," Tristan says, amazed.

The bar-tender places Walker's cheese burger in front of him, and he starts to dig in.

We all stare at him again. He notices and looks up at us. He swallows and gives us a confused look. "What? I used to be mortal. Just because I'm a god and don't have to eat mortal food anymore doesn't mean I don't enjoy it."

I shrug and go back to my food, as do the others. I hadn't realized how hungry I had been until we had walked in. I suppose nearly being suffocated by a sea serpent and then stabbing it three – four if you count the first one – times will do that to you.

Tristan was the first one to finish. He drains the rest of his Pepsi and looks to Walker again.

"So where are we supposed to go now? And why can't you just tell us where Kyra, Nico, and Mike are?" he asks.

"It's a bit complicated. See, the path leading to them is shrouded, so I can only see so far ahead. That's why I can't tell you where they are, because I myself do not know yet. They're up north though, that I can tell you,"

"How far up north are we talking?"

"The farthest I can see right now is New Hampshire, though I have a feeling that they're much farther up,"

"Like in Canada, farther up?"

"No, no. Still in the states, but relatively close the Canadian boarder. As to where you're going next, Boston is the next city you stop at. There's a little town here in Connecticut called Hartford along the way that would be convenient for a rest stop,"

"Boston. Do any of you guys know anyone in Boston?" Tristan asks, turning to look at us.

James and I shake our heads, but Jade nods. "My Aunt Cecil lives in Boston. We could probably stay the night with her,"

"Great! I'll be on my way then. I have some matters to take care of before I meet you four in Boston." He snaps his fingers and forty dollars appears on the bar.

He walks out, leaving just the four of us again.

"You guys ready?" Tristan asks.

We all nod and slide off of the bar stools, thanking the bar-tender on our way out. I had a bad feeling about what we'd find in Hartford.

**A/N:**

**Kind of a filler, but oh well. Did you enjoy Walker's appearance? I figured he should start disguising himself again, considering no one really knows who works for Osiris. There could be eyes all over the states. If one of his minions found out that he's helping Adrienne and the others, that would mean huge trouble for them. The danger scale would explode. **

**Also, Louis' Lunch is an actual burger joint in New Haven. I looked it up on Google and from what I can tell, it's pretty fucking tiny. **

**And I apologize for not updating yesterday. My mom wasn't working and we had a lot of errands to run. By the end of the day, I was too exhausted to update. **

**When you wake up sometimes, do you ever feel like something will happen that day? I mean, obviously things always happen every day, but something besides your everyday happens. Like a serious conversation that changes things or a big event or something like that.**

**I had that feeling this morning, and it's been torturing me. It's one of those that could go horribly wrong and leave me feeling fucking awful for a week, or come out completely okay and everything would be alright again. **

**The situation that it involves is something that I've been debating over for nearly three months, and I've been too much of a coward to confront it...I _really_ suck at confrontation.**

**In other news, I went out to eat with my parents on Sunday night and nearly wanted to throttle them. What happened was, our waiter came over - his name was Charlie - and took our drink orders, and he also asked if we wanted an appetizer. My mom ordered some fried pickles and then he left. **

**So he comes back a few more times, and one of the last times when he came to check up on us, he smiled at me and said, "I thought you said you were going to eat the pickles!" and I just sorta smirked at him and told him I was full. He then looked at me, a bit bewildered, and I said, "The soup and salad was really good, okay?" **

**He smiled and shook his head, and then left again. By this point, I was pretty clear on the fact that he was flirting with me. That was clear when he brought the fucking drinks. But my dad just looked at me, and he had this smitten look on his face and I asked him what that was about. And he goes in to explain that our waiter has been flirting with me, _big time. _Then my mom chimes in and agrees with this, and they go on about it for a few minutes. Meanwhile, I'm on the other side of the booth trying my hardest not to turn fire engine red. It would have been totally and completely fine if they hadn't of mentioned it. **

**I suppose that's what parents do though, embarrass the hell out of you whether they intentionally did so or not. **

**M/A:**

_**"'I'll say it straight and plain  
I know I've made mistakes  
I've always been afraid  
I've always been afraid'"**_

**Polaris**** by Jimmy Eat World.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own the PJO or HoO series by Rick Riodan. I _do _own all of the OCs mentioned, with an exception for Walker. He belongs to Star Holder Commander.

* * *

Nico's POV

An hour later and much uncomfortable and painful movements trying to _get_ comfortable, still left us with no idea or plan as to how we were getting out of this hell hole.

"I wonder where Silena and Beckendorf are," Kyra says.

"My guess would be dead...For the second time,"

"Can you not sense them?"

"Ky, I can barely sense myself or you in here, and that may not be a good thing. Anyone I've tried picturing in my mind to see if their soul is still on the surface, I can't get anything. Mo, James, Percy, Annabeth, even Chiron, there's nothing. This place is preventing every power I have from working,"

_'You idiot. Just tell her.' _The voice in my head hisses. I shake my head and try to make it shut up. I couldn't deal with that right now.

"Oh. So we're basically sitting ducks here?"

"Pretty much."

A beat passes between us, absolute silence penetrating the dim, dankness of the room. It made me wonder if it was soundproof, if the other people who were in this building heard our screams when we were being tortured.

"Nico," Kyra says.

"Yea?"

"Do you think I could sleep and maybe dream?"

"What?"

"You know how descendants of Apollo can see snippets of the future or the past, especially when they're dreaming? Maybe if I fall asleep and dream, I can see something,"

"That might work. But aren't they unpredictable? You can't really control what you want to see,"

"We don't know that. Has anyone ever tried controlling it?"

"You mean like lucid dreaming?"

"Yea, sorta. Except I wouldn't actually be controlling what happens, I'd just be forcing my mind to show me what point in time I want to see,"

I shrug, then cringe. That had been a bad idea. "Why not give it a try? Maybe you can see something that will help us,"

"Okay. Well, I'm not particularly tired right now, considering I just took a two hour nap from passing out, and I can't exactly get up and run around to tire myself out,"

I had a bad feeling about where she was leading this.

"Do you think maybe you could—" I cut her off.

"_No_,"

"Why not? Whenever you sing that song to me I instantly fall asleep!"

"Figure out something else. I'm not singing," If I could have crossed my arms, I would have.

"Niiico," she whines.

"No, Daemon might walk in and that would result in an even worse torture session than the previous one,"

"Pleeease. C'mon, this is the only thing I can think of. We have to try,"

I stare at her in the dim lighting for a few minutes. Then I sigh. "Fine, I'll do it,"

"Thank you."

I take a deep breath and start singing the first line to Hammers and Strings (A Lullaby) by Jack's Mannequin. They had been one of Kyra's favorite bands when we were teenagers, and I had learned to play this song for our fifth wedding anniversary. Ever since, whenever she can't sleep, she asks me to sing it to her.

When I'm a forth of the way through the song, she had started getting in a relatively comfortable position. Half way through, she was almost asleep, and when I was finished, she was knocked out.

"Wow." It never ceased to amaze me how quickly she could fall asleep when I sung that song to her. It was like a sleeping spell. Now came the waiting.

* * *

Kyra had woken up three times. The first two times she had been screaming like she was bathing in lava. The last time, she just woke up.

"Ky?" I ask.

She looks up at me, looking more worn out than when she had first drifted off. "Gods, Nico. _Never_ let me do that again,"

"What happened? What did you see?"

She sighs and tries to move, then winces, remembering the wires embedded in her arms. "I saw a lot of things, none of which were nice things. Daemon torturing us for days on end, Osiris getting frustrated with Mike and slapping him. Then there was James and Adrienne,"

"What about them? Are they okay?"

"They're on their way here, or if they haven't left yet, they will soon. They'll be traveling with Tristan, and some other girl, her name is Jade. And Walker is helping them. They're going to run into some of Osiris' creations along the way though. There's no telling how long that will delay them, or even if all four of them will make it here,"

"Don't talk like that, you know it will turn out all right in the end,"

"I can't help thinking like this! You don't know what all I saw, I can't even begin to describe what hell Daemon's going to put us through. And the kids, I just can't—I can't bring myself to believe that something will happen. I wish—" she pauses, taking a deep breath, "I wish they had gone to Chiron or Mo or somebody else. I wish they were safe at Camp, but they're not,"

"Huh,"

"What?"

"It's just funny, we've switched roles. Usually _you're_ the one who's giving the encouraging talks, not me. I'm the pessimist, and you're the optimist,"

"Yea, I suppose that is kinda strange," she gently tugs against the chains again, "What are we even doing?"

"What do you mean?"

"When we were teenagers, we would have been out of here two days after arriving. We've been stuck here for gods know how long, and still with no idea as to how we're getting out,"

"You said James and Addie are on their way? With Tristan and Walker and some girl named Jade?"

"Yea, so what?"

"They'll get us out,"

"How do you know that?"

"I just do, and you're just gonna have to take my word for it. We'll be okay."

**A/N:**

**I am soooo sorry it took me so long to update today. At least I didn't wait until tomorrow though! It's been a pretty fucking long day, but I'll get into that in a minute.**

**So, what do you think that little voice in Nico's head meant when it said to tell Kyra something? And what did you think about Kyra's little dream experiment? I think that part would have been better had it been in Kyra's POV, but, alas, her POV is not in this story. **

**Onto the long day: It rained for the better part of early afternoon, which wasn't fun. We're also supposed to have a cold front come through tonight, and it's supposed to drop to twenty-eight degrees. But, it'll be back up in the seventies again by the weekend. Sometimes I really fucking hate this weather.**

**Anyway, my mom and I got pedicures and haircuts today, and I couldn't be happier about that. I was beginning to feel like a lion with my mane of hair. For some reason when it's at a certain length when it's really short, it just decides to go curl crazy. Then when it's at the shortest point that I'm comfortable with, the curls go away and it just straightens out. My hair is weird, I know. **

**Then my mom got called into work - on her goddamn day off, mind you, for the _second time _today - and she dropped me off at the house for about forty-five minutes then she was able to come home. Then she changed and we went out and ran some errands and blah blah blah.**

**When we came home is when this really fucking dull and awful Monday got fantastic. I can't actually _say, _what happened yet, I have to wait a month or so, but it's really exciting! I'll tell you one thing, I bawled my eyes out about this thing _twice__, _almost three times. When I can though, I'll tell you guys. Just know that it's a really _good _thing that happened, not bad. **

**M/A:**

**_"'Can I get an amen  
For all the bleeding and the prayin'?  
I had to struggle to be gracious  
Now we can touch it  
We can taste it_**

**_Can I get a little amen?  
No more running from the hangman  
Now I'm the pilot of this spaceship  
So you can touch it  
You can taste it'"_  
**

**Soul Wars**** by AWOLNATION.**

**XOXO,**

**Mrs-diAngelo25**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own the PJO or HoO series by Rick Riodan. I _do _own all of the OCs, exceot for Walker. He belongs to Star Holder Commander.

* * *

**Adrienne's POV**

"Gods, are we there yet?"

"No, Jade. We still have twenty minutes before we get to Hartford." Tristan says, grinding his teeth.

This had been going on since we left New Haven. We were all getting pretty fed up with her asking. I understood being bored in the car, but gods, even _I_ didn't complain this much.

James reaches over and turns up the music, muting out pretty much everything. For once, I didn't mind having the music blaring in my ears. Whatever would block out Jade's voice was fine with me.

I lean my head back against the head rest and close my eyes. I wondered how long it was going to take us to get to mom and dad. What kind of person just snatches up two adults and a six year old? I have to remind myself that the person we were dealing with, wasn't exactly _mortal_, so to speak. This was Osiris, part mortal, and part empousa. Who knew just what went on in his head.

* * *

I hadn't even realized I had dozed off until I was being shaken awake. "Adds, come on, wake up!"

I open my eyes to see Jade looking at me. We were stopped at a 7-Eleven, probably in Hartford. Tristan was beside the car, filling it up, and James wasn't in the car, so it was safe to assume he was inside the convenience store.

"Let's go inside and get something to drink, I'm parched,"

"Okay," I yawn, unbuckling my seat belt and opening the door. We slide out and start heading inside.

As soon as we stepped through the door, I knew something was wrong. I could feel it in the air. James was no where in sight, in the bathroom probably - or at least, I hoped he was.

Jade speeds to the back where the drinks were before I could stop her. I glance around to see if anyone else was in here with us. The only other person was the man behind the counter.

He was balding, and slightly overweight. There were stains all over his shirt, and I could smell something awful resonating off of him. He glances over at me and smirks, his teeth showing for a half second.

I had to hold myself back from running out screaming. His teeth were all sharpened into needle-like points. I quickly make my way towards the back where Jade was still picking out a drink.

"Jade," I whisper.

"Okay, I've got it narrowed down to these two energy drinks. One is green apple and the other is red raspberry and pomegranate. Which do you think?"

"Jade, we have to get out of here,"

"What? Why?"

"The guy behind the counter, I don't think he's mortal,"

"What makes you say that? Did he offer to show you his sharp pointy teeth?" she snorts.

I glance behind us and pale. "_Jade_,"

"What?"

"Turn around,"

She does, and then drops the two drinks she was holding. They crash to the ground and roll under one of the end caps on the snack-food isle. Standing before us was the man from behind the counter. Except he wasn't exactly a _man_. More like a cat-man hybrid.

His lips were drawn back, revealing all of those pointy teeth, and his gums were black. His sleeves were pushed up, showing that his arms were covered in thick, brown and white fur. His eyes were an unnatural green color. His nails elongate into curled, black claws.

Jade and I back up slowly, until we're pressed against the drink coolers. The cat-man advances slowly, not making a sound.

"Now, now. Looks like I have myself a couple of new play toys," he purrs, licking his lips.

"No, you don't," I say, trying to sound brave.

He chuckles and advances. "Brave little soldier, you think you can defeat me? Do you know who created me?"

"I'm going to guess you're a child of the Sphinx and some fat guy?" Jade says, smirking. I elbow her in the ribs.

He growls. "No, you foolish child. Lord Osiris."

"He's going by 'Lord' now? How narcissistic is this guy?"

He begins to reach out to throttle Jade, his black claws looking incredibly sharp. I quickly draw out one of my throwing stars and toss it towards his eye. It slashes across his cornea and he reels back, screaming and gripping his bleeding eye.

I run forward and jump on his back. "Jade! Stab him!" I scream.

She runs her hand over where her sword would be, and the air shimmers and her sheath appears. I guess it was pretty cool being a decedent of Iris, you could manipulate light rays and hide objects if you so desired. She fumbles with the clasp holding her sword in the hidden sheath. I wished she would hurry up, I was loosing my grip on this thing.

"For the love of the Gods, hurry up Jade!"

"I'm trying! It's stuck!"

Out of nowhere, the bell above the door rings. "You guys okay? I heard screaming and—_oh_." It was Tristan. He runs over, unsheathing his double-edged, Imperial gold sword.

I jump off of the creature's back just in time. If I hadn't, my leg might have been impaled or cut off by the sword. I land over by the candy isle. I had partially jumped, but I was mostly thrown off.

The thing screams and falls to the ground, and Tristan starts hacking away at it. A thick brown liquid splatters everywhere, I assume that's its blood. After a few seconds, it stops moving. Tristan comes back up, breathing heavily. He wipes the brown stuff off of his sword and onto the thing's pants, and then sheaths it again.

He turns around and looks at me. "You okay?"

I nod. "Yea,"

"Hey, do you guys think we could get some supplies here?" Jade asks, holding onto her two drinks and browsing the isles.

"I guess, but we should still pay for anything we get, we're not descendants of Hermes,"

"Oh come on, we're related to him!"

"Not necessarily. Gods don't have DNA, remember?"

"Pleeease, Tristan? We don't have much cash, and we just killed the shop owner. Just take out the security cameras and destroy the footage they recorded,"

Tristan gives her a hard look, then sighs. "Fine. Adrienne, help me smash the cameras and find the footage. Jade, go grab a bag and get whatever. And if we're doing this, go ahead and raid the cash register. Might as well."

Jade grins and runs to the front of the store to grab a shopping bag. I follow Tristan around the small store and smash the two cameras. Their red lights were on before we smashed them, so that told us that they had actually been on through the whole battle.

We head to the back where the bathrooms and the employee break room was. We stop short when the bathroom door knob starts to wiggle.

Tristan draws his sword and I take out two of my throwing stars. The door opens, to reveal James. He jumps upon seeing us ready to attack.

"Hades, don't _do_ that. Are you two _trying_ to give me heart attack?"

"Where the hell were you?!" Tristan asks, shoving his sword back into its sheath.

"Uh, bathroom?"

Tristan closes his eyes and shakes his head. "Come on, help us find the security footage,"

"Why?"

"We have to destroy it,"

"Did I miss something while I was in there? I was only gone for a couple of minutes,"

"The cashier was a monster, he cornered Jade and I, I slashed one of his eyes and jumped on his back, Tristan came in and basically hacked it to pieces. The whole time the cameras were recording us. So I think you can guess why we need to destroy the evidence," I say.

"Uh, wow. Yea, come on. Before I went to the bathroom, I snooped around the break room. There's another room that's locked. I'd say that's where the footage is,"

"Lead the way."

**A/N:**

**Bit of a long chapter, I bet you guys love me for it. Oh, the blood that the cat-man was spewing wasn't like, dirt brown. Y'know how when you mix green and red and you get that ugly brownish color? That's about the color that it was. **

**As I was writing this chapter, and it got to the part where Jade was fumbling with her sheath's clasp, I was trying to figure out how you'd conceal a sword when you're most likely wearing shorts or something like that and no coat or anything to cover it up. So I got creative and thought, 'Well, she _is _a daughter of Iris, why not play with that a little?' And viola, the power of bending light rays was invented! **

**Ung, so on Wednesday I have to leave my house at about 5:30 to catch a 6:30 flight to Texas. I'm not incredibly psyched about that. I might as well not sleep. I'm just really not looking forward to this trip. I never really _do _look forward to my trips to Texas. I mean, yes, I get to see my mom's family and that's great, but if my dad is coming - which is pretty much every time - it's an obligation that we _must _go down to fucking Houston and see my half-siblings. I know, I know, I've talked about this a million times and you guys are probably pretty damn sick of reading about it. **

**But I think I finally figured out _why _I hate it so much. I mean, besides the obvious that I _highly_ dislike the oldest sister and her creepy husband and their kids. But, the other sister's oldest son is a fucking genius. Literally, I'm not kidding. He's just a few months older than me and he's been taking college classes for two fucking years. He's either already graduated high school or he's about to, and it'll be two years early. He should be finishing college by the time he's 19 or 20, I can't remember _when _exactly.**

**But anyway, it's not like his mom_ brags _about it, but I can't help but feel like an idiot when I'm around him. I mean, he's my favorite of the distant nieces and nephews, he's really easy to get along with, but still. **

**And the oldest sister _intentionally _makes you feel like an idiot. She does it to my mom all the time, and she's starting to do it to me too. It'll just be a little remark, or correcting you when you're in the middle of telling a story or something. It's so damn infuriating and makes me want to scream my lungs out.**

**Then the brother's just kinda sorta rich and any time we go to he and his wife's house, I feel like I'm in a goddamn mansion and I'm the smallest particle of dust on the planet. **

**I guess what I'm getting at is that I hate going down there because they make me feel so fucking worthless and it's just really awful. **

**So yea, there's that. And by next Monday when I hopefully update again, the trip will be almost over. **

**I just need a lot of good vibes. **

**M/A:**

_**"'But there's one thing, and overtone of rain.  
Pick me up and out of me,  
Soon as I can see the rain.  
Out the door into the trees, I can hear my thoughts again.  
Half across the world and back nostalgia's come to take a hit.  
I say hit me till I'm lit, with a light that takes my mind back home'"**_

**Rain**** by Emily's Army. **

**XOXO,**

**Mrs-diAngelo25**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own the PJO or HoO series by Rick Riodan. I _do _own all of the OCs mentioned, except for Walker. He belongs to Star Holder Commander.

* * *

**Nico's POV**

I was dozing when I heard the heavy door creak open. The blinding light pours into the dank room and I look up, squinting. Kyra couldn't turn around and see who it was, but she was awake. She hadn't fallen asleep again since the dream she had had hours ago. She still wouldn't go into detail about what all had happened.

Whoever it is steps in, closing the door behind them. It was hard to see who it was from all the way on the other side of the room, but I could hear their heavy footsteps coming closer.

When they're about ten feet behind Kyra, I see who it is. I had mixed emotions. I wanted to rip through these chains and either tackle him with a hug, or strangle the hell out of him.

"Nico," he says.

"So it really is you?" My voice was scratchy and sore from lack of water.

"Yea,"

He comes closer and steps into my visibility. It was, without a doubt, Beckendorf.

"Where have you and Silena _been_?"

He lowers his head, as if ashamed. "There's nothing I can say to make it up, you two have been locked in here for three days. And in that time, you had your son taken away from you again, tortured to the worst extent, and gods know what else. There's nothing I can say to make up for that,"

"You didn't answer the question. Where have you two been?"

He sighs and kneels down beside Kyra, cutting the wires tied to the bolts in the floor. "They took her away,"

"_What_?"

He growls and slams his fist on the ground. "They took her away, Nico! I can't do anything about it. I have to sit around and follow Osiris' damn orders, and I can't save her,"

"Where did they take her?" Kyra asks.

He gives a heavy sigh and shrugs, unlocking the shackles around her wrists. "They wouldn't tell me. Figures, they knew that if they did I'd just go bust her out,"

"Is she somewhere in this hell hole?"

He looks to Kyra while standing back up. "Don't move," He walks over to me and unlocks the shackles around my wrists, then he unlocks the ones around my ankles. I fall to my keens and give a sigh of relief, rubbing my chapped and sore wrists.

"Nico, help me uncoil the wires in her arms,"

I shakily stand up and go over to Kyra. "Watch what I do, and then you do the other arm. Kyra, this is going to hurt,"

"Okay," she nods, squinting her eyes shut.

He carefully begins taking the wire out of her arm. She groans and grinds her teeth. I could tell she was trying her hardest not to yank her arm away from Beckendorf's large hands.

"Okay, the wire's out, but now I have to pull out the spike. Ready?"

She takes a deep breath then nods. "Just do it,"

He grips the spike embedded in her shoulder and yanks it out. Kyra screams, jerking away this time. Her arm had started to bleed again, and it was oozing out of the puncture hole in her shoulder.

Beckendorf grabs a bag I hadn't noticed before and rifles through it. He pulls out clean white gauze and a bottle of a clear liquid with a dropper. "This will sting for a couple of seconds, then your arm will go numb,"

He uncaps the bottle and then squeezes a few drops into the hole and then along the winding gash around her arm. Pink foam bubbles out of the wounds and Kyra whimpers slightly. I hold her close and tight, so to make sure she doesn't make any drastic moves to cause more bleeding.

When the bubbling stops, she gives a heavy sigh and practically deflates in my arms. She almost goes unconscious, but I shake her slightly to keep her awake.

"I'll start bandaging up this one, Nico do the other arm,"

I nod and start the process over again, difficultly maneuvering the wire up and around her arm. It was hard getting it out, considering how deeply embedded it was. Blood had also dried and clotted over it, making it stick to the flesh. As soon as I pull the wire, new blood starts dripping out of the gash.

I finally get it all out, but that had been the easy part. Now I had to pull the fucking spike out. I detested Daemon. I hated him with all of my being for forcing me to do this to Kyra. I didn't want to hurt her, but the agonizing pain accompanied getting this thing out of her arm.

"Ready?" Beckendorf asks. He had finished bandaging the first arm.

I nod. "Yea, hold her tight. Ky, try not to move much." I take a deep breath, grip the end of the spike tightly, and pull.

**A/N:**

**I cringed writing this last part. Just imagining the pain of having a spike ripped out of my shoulder doesn't sit well in the mind. **

**I apologize for not updating yesterday. We got to the hotel in Mississippi right before the rain started and then right before we were about to go across the street for dinner, the tornado sirens started going off. Soo, we went back inside and found that most of the guests were downstairs watching the weather. Nothing touched down, but it was really windy outside for pretty much the rest of the night. **

**Then today we got home and picked up the dogs on our way. I was so happy to see them again! I had missed them a lot while I was gone.**

**M/A:**

_**"'I'm not sick but I'm not well**_

_**And I'm so hot 'cause I'm in Hell**_

_**I'm not sick but I'm not well**_

_**And it's a sin to live so well'"**_

**Flagpole Sitta**** by ****Harvey Danger**

**XOXO,**

**Mrs-diAngelo25**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own the PJO or HoO series by Rick Riodan. I _do _own all of the OCs mentioned, except for Walker. He belongs to Star Holder Commander.

* * *

Adrienne's POV

After hightailing it out of the 7-Eleven, we had been going non-stop to Boston. Jade had managed to pillage a hundred bucks and some change from the cash register and then she grabbed some snacks and drinks as well. We had been munching on chips and candy for the past forty-five minutes.

We were almost to Boston when Tristan spoke up. "So what's your aunt like?"

"She's nice, an art critic actually. She lived in South Dorchester for a while and tried to become a recognized artist there, but that didn't really work out. So, she got into the critiquing business and made it big I guess. I haven't talked to her in a couple of months, but she was doing well the last time I stayed with her,"

"What's South Dorchester?" James asks.

"It's a neighborhood in Boston. A lot of the middle class live in that area,"

"And now she lives..?"

"Back Bay, much higher class. Art critics like her, and richy-rich people live in that area,"

"So Boston is kinda divided up like New York? You have the high class in one place, the middle in another, and the lower class somewhere else?" Tristan asks.

"Yea, pretty much,"

"Cool, I guess. So where exactly does she live? We're almost there and I need to know where we're going,"

"580 Washington Street. They have a valet service, I just have to show them a card and they'll take it down to the secure garage,"

A few minutes later when we pull up outside Jade's aunt's condo complex, we were all speechless. The building itself was gorgeous, Aunt Annabeth would have fainted.

There were three towers lined up to make a triangle. They were all connected on the bottom with covered red-brick walkways, almost like a tube made of bricks. There were also windows in the brick tubes and flowers planted in the window baskets.

But that wasn't what took our breath away. It was the fact that the towers were mirror-paneled, so they reflected what the sky was doing. Since it was right around sunset, they looked like they were on fire; the reds, yellows, and oranges engulfing all of it.

"Wow," James breathes.

"What? Have you guys never been to Boston? The whole city is sprinkled with these kinds of buildings," Jade says.

"Uh, do I just pull in here?" Tristan asks, pointing to the large circular cul-de-sac.

"Yea, pull up to the doors and they'll ask if we're with anyone in the building,"

Tristan pulls the car up to the door and two valet men meet us. Jade already had a plastic card pulled out and was showing it to them. They nod saying, "Oh yes, Ms. Blackhouse, welcome home," over and over again. Jade had never told me her last name, but Blackhouse somehow fit her.

We all get out of the car, grabbing our backpacks. Tristan hands them the keys and we all head inside. What we didn't know is that we wouldn't see that car again for some time.

**A/N:**

**Yes, yes, a small cliff-hanger like ending. Not a huge one, but enough to know that something will happen in chapter eleven. **

**Sorry for the late update, it's been a busy day. My mom and I had to run some errands then we went to see The Amazing Spider-Man 2, which was ****_incredible_****. I love Marvel, I love it so damn much. **

**Really haven't had a very eventful week, to tell the truth. My friend and I went out yesterday and had lunch then we drove to the "big" city thirty minutes away from our town so she could look at Carmax and see if she could find the car she wants. **

**No luck really, but I found a black Dodge Challenger that I would kill for. I want one of those cars so bad. Either that one, a Dodge Charger, or a Jeep Wrangler. Those are my dream cars. **

**So yea, that's been my week. Pretty exciting, huh?**

**M/A:**

_**"'If you love me let me go**_

_**If you love me let me go**_

_**'Cause these words are knives and often leave scars**_

_**The fear of falling apart**_

_**And truth be told, I never was yours**_

_**The fear, the fear of falling apart'"**_

**This is Gospel**** by ****Panic! At the**** Disco**

**(The whole fucking album [Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die] is incredible. I was watching the music videos from it last night and nearly cried while I watched 'Nicotine.' I love the song, but paired with the video it was pretty powerful. So was the video for 'This is Gospel,' I highly suggest listing to the whole album and watching the videos.)**

**XOXO,**

**Mrs-diAngelo25**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own the PJO or HoO series by Rick Riodan, but I _do _own all of the OCs mentioned, except for Walker. He belongs to Star Holder Commander.

* * *

Nico's POV

Kyra wouldn't stop shaking. She was drained of energy, that much was obvious, but she refused to go to sleep. She was too afraid of what she might see.

Beckendorf had left us hours ago, not promising anything but leaving with the hint that he might be back later. When later was, I didn't know. I don't think he knows when later will be either. There really isn't a way to know.

But back to Kyra. The treatment Beckendorf had done on her arms had seemed to work for the most part. He had told me that they would scar, badly. There was nothing we could do about that. Kyra hadn't seen sunlight in weeks and without that her healing powers were useless. And without any ambrosia or nectar, we had to settle with using mortal medical supplies.

I was worried about her condition though, she just kept getting worse. The shaking was almost constant by this point. Everything shook, and she couldn't control it. Her teeth were chattering too, like she was freezing cold.

I could feel the two of us in this room, both of our heartbeats and the blood pumping through our veins. My heartbeat was strong and steady, which was a miracle considering what all Daemon had done to me. Hers was slower than usual. It was slowing, and that was terrifying.

* * *

"Kyra," I whisper, shaking her slightly.

I had just noticed that she hadn't moved in quite a while, and her heart rate was almost non-existent. I started to panic a little because she was unresponsive to me.

I hold my breath and squint my eyes closed, thinking that maybe if I didn't see her it wouldn't be true. That none of this was happening. I open one eye to see her eyelids twitch. I give a small sigh of relief as she turns over on her side and curls up to take a nap. I could hear her small heartbeat again, and that was slightly reassuring.

I lean my head against the wall and close my weary eyes. I run my fingers through Kyra's hair as her breathing slows down and she falls into the darkness of sleep.

That wasn't a bad idea actually, getting some sleep. Well, it could be, depending on what you see. But I was exhausted and needed a little something to build up my dwindling strength.

I take a deep breath and before I know it, I feel myself slipping away into the darkness of sleep as well.

* * *

_"James!" Adrienne screams._

_He whips around just in time to see Adrienne ripped away from the giant tree she had been bound to. She gives an ear shattering scream as the layer of skin on the tops of her arms are ripped off. _

_James' eyes were huge and terrified, yet furious at the same time. Someone had cast a spell on his younger sister that made her get stuck to a tree. Then something ripped her off of the tree, causing her tremendous pain. No way whoever did this was going unpunished._

_As Adrienne's screams retreated farther in to the forest, James motioned for Jade and Tristan to kill the monsters they were fighting already and follow him. _

_He starts sprinting after the thing that had taken Adrienne. He wasn't loosing anyone else to this monster. _

**A/N:**

**Short chapter, but there's not much I can do about that when Nico and Kyra are locked up in the Department with no way out. You guys'll like the next chapter. It's not finished yet but it's already kinda long. I think it's going to turn out pretty kick-ass...**

**And I apologize - yet again - for the late update. It's been a looong day. I had to get my hair cut this morning then my mom and I ran some errands. Then when my dad got home from work we went to this giant book store to see if we could find any of the text books I need for the next grade - didn't find any but oh well.**

**After we got home I ate dinner then my friend and I went to the mall. After that we went to our local coffee shop and got hot chocolate (yes, yes, we got hot chocolate even though it's hot outside) and the cute barista gave me a free mocha frappé, so that was sweet as hell ^.^**

_**Then,**_** my friend didn't want to go home yet so we went to the college campus in town and just walked around for about forty-five minutes. By the time we got back to the car we were both winded and felt like we were dying. But, we had a lot of fun, so I guess it was worth it. **

**M/A:**

_**"'I'm scared to get close and I hate being alone**_

_**I long for that feeling to not feel at all**_

_**The higher I get, the lower I'll sink**_

_**I can't drown my demons, they know how to swim'"**_

**Can You Feel My Heart**** by ****Bring Me the Horizon**

**(I've been damn near obsessed with this song for the past three days. Oh my god, it's just so amazing)**

**XOXO,**

**Mrs-diAngelo25**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven **

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own the PJO or HoO series by Rick Riodan. I _do _own all of the OCs mentioned, except for Walker. He belongs to Star Holder Commander.

* * *

Adrienne's POV

Everything started out normal enough. Or as normal as you could get in a rich art critic's house. Apparently the valet had phoned the front desk and told the land lord that Jade was here with some friends and that she wished to be escorted to her aunt's condo...Which was on the twentieth floor...And the whole floor was a pent house, not a tiny little rat infested condo.

When we got up there and walked in, the three of us were just as breathless as we had been upon seeing the outside of the complex. It was _gorgeous_.

There were bouquets made up of honeysuckle, Sweet William, and small white buds. The whole place smelled wonderful, and rightly so considering all the flowers.

There was art on the mint green walls, of all different kinds. There was modern art that really didn't make much since to me, – if it made sense to anyone, it would be James and Tristan – and there were scenes of battles raging, and women lying on their sides and eating fruit or whatnot. Every single one was unique in its own way.

"Aunt Laura?" Jade calls.

We all set our backpacks down in the entry way on the long, dark brown storage cabinet. Jade walks forward and into the living room, we follow a few paces behind. Something felt off, it was in the air. I could easily tell when something was wrong. I had developed a sort of instinct over the years to tell when something was about to go horribly awry or when a monster or some sort of danger was near by.

Mom and dad had been herding us all over the place for years to different safe houses. Usually it was when several monsters attacked our main house in New York that we'd leave, but sometimes something catastrophic would happen where we were all in danger and they'd make us go to a safe house across the country. Once they had killed all of the monsters at our main house or taken care of the bad situation, we'd simply move back home.

I was also beginning to sense death, and people in general. More along the lines of their souls slowly fading, depending on the person, but it was scary all the same. I supposed this was because Hades had claimed me. Dad had been telling me about this for a couple of years now, about all the things he could sense. Sometimes I wondered if he _knew_ Hades would claim me, and maybe he just wanted to prepare me a bit for what I'd experience.

"Aunt Laura?" Jade calls again.

I could tell James was beginning to get antsy. He was starting to jitter slightly; he does that when he's nervous. So I _wasn't_ the only one who knew something was up.

"Jade?" a woman's voice sounds from the back.

"Wait in the living room, I'll be right back," Jade says, motioning for us to wait there.

We do and she hurries down the hall and into a back room where the voice had come from. "Why do you think it took her so long to hear Jade?" I ask, keeping my voice low.

Tristan shrugs. "Maybe she has bad hearing?"

James snorts and tries to contain his laughter. "Dude, this lady is probably about our parent's age, do you really think she's hard of hearing already?"

"Well, it happens. Some people loose a lot of their hearing when they're young,"

"But she's an _art_ _critic_, what kind of loud stuff is she around that would be harmful to her ears?"

This was getting a little heated, and we didn't need that right now. "Guys," I say, trying to interrupt them. They didn't hear me, which was a bit ironic considering what they were arguing about.

"_Guys_," I hiss.

"_What_?" they say simultaneously, giving me a look of annoyance.

"Shut up, they're coming back,"

They straighten up and the three of us turn to see Jade leading a woman down the dark hallway. When they emerge from the shadows, I see that the woman was probably in her early thirties. She was relatively pale and tall, her figure slender and well toned as if she went to a gym a few times a week. Her hair was long and black and swept up into a messy bun with chopsticks sticking through it and her eyes were indigo blue.

"You must be Jade's friends," she smiles.

"It's nice to meet you, Miss," Tristan says, stepping forward and shaking her hand, "I'm Tristan and this is Adrienne and James,"

"Very nice to meet you, I'm Laura. Jade tells me you're taking a trip up north and needed a place to crash?"

"Yes ma'am. It's been a pretty long day and we needed some rest. Jade mentioned that you lived in Boston and suggested that we stop here," James says.

"Seeing anyone in particular or just sightseeing?"

We all take a seat in the living room. James, Tristan, and I took the couch while Jade and Laura took seats in the two light gray, overstuffed chairs.

"Just sightseeing. It's summer break and we decided to do something worth while this year instead of just sitting around the house," Tristan says.

"That's wonderful! How far are you planning on going?"

"Maybe up into Canada, we're not really sure," Jade says.

"Well, that should be a lot of fun. Have you eaten already? I was going to cook spaghetti and meatballs for dinner and I'd be happy to make a little more,"

"That sounds delicious. If you wouldn't mind making extra, we haven't eaten yet," Tristan says.

"No trouble at all. If you'll just help me out, we can have it done in just a few minutes."

We all stand up and head into the kitchen to get cooking and setting the table. The strange feeling I had was still there, but it had lessened a bit.

* * *

After dinner, I felt exhausted. More than I should have, but I didn't let it faze me. It was almost nine o'clock, but it had been a _really_ long day what with the drakon sea serpent thing on the ferry and then cat-man at the seven-eleven. No wonder I was so tired.

"Jade, you and Adrienne can stay in the guest room. Boys, you can sleep on the couches, they're quite comfortable. I'll get you some blankets and you can settle down for the night," Laura says.

"Thank you, Laura," James says, yawning slightly.

She heads into the back and Jade and I grab our backpacks, heading down the hall and to the guest room.

"What time do you think we'll be leaving tomorrow morning?" Jade asks, unzipping her bag.

I shrug. "I dunno. I guess whenever Walker contacts us again and tells us where to go next,"

"Yea, I guess you're right. I was surprised he didn't show up right after we got here. Do you think he's still trying to find where the best spot to stop next is?"

"Maybe, he did say it was pretty tricky seeing where my parents and Mike are. I just hope he shows up soon, I'm getting an uneasy feeling about being in Boston,"

"You too?"

"Yea, as soon as we stepped in here,"

"I thought it was just me," she lowers her voice so only I could hear her, "Aunt Laura seems a bit off. She's different somehow, but I can't pinpoint what it is,"

My stomach clenches up at that. If _Jade_ was having uneasy feelings about being here too, that was saying something. Something was wrong.

**A/N:**

**Told ya it was a long chapter today! We're not going to get into why they won't be seeing the car again until chapter thirteen. I ****_was _****going to include that today, but it's like another whole chapter's worth of writing and I wanted to divide it up. **

**What do you think about Laura? I was going to make her someone from Kyra's past at Camp, but that just would have been a major headache trying to explain it and why that certain person was back. There ****_is _****a pretty damn major plot twist in next week's chapter. Y'all are gonna hate me :)**

**So guess what happened to me today!...Any guesses? No? I GOT THE DAMN BRACES OFF TODAY! God, my teeth feel so weird. I have so much room in my mouth, and since they messed with my teeth for about a solid two hours, my gums are inflamed and puffy. But I can eat corn on the cob again, and chewy, sticky candy, and it's so much easier to brush my teeth and just-AHH, THEY'RE SO MUCH PRETTIER NOW. **

**So yea, that happened today, and then my mom and I went to get pizza for lunch, it was delicious by the way. And then we ran some errands and then came home! **

**M/A:**

_**"' I**_ _**said I wanna sit on the roof with you**_

_**And I wanna, but the road is taking me soon**_

_**I wanna sit on the roof with you,**_

_**I wanna, and I'll make the best of it too because I wont give up'"**_

**On the Roof**** by ****Emily's Army**

**(I had a dream about EA the other night and it was fantastic. I was at this dump with one of my friends but it wasn't for trash. There were mountains of vinyls and band merch and CDs and cassettes. But they were just standing amongst it all. I saw them and froze up and then I just went up to them and hugged Joey and Cole and Max and Travis and I was crying and laughing and they were all just like 'It's okay, don't cry please. What can we do to make you feel better?' and they were just sO SWEET, OH MY GOD. I wouldn't having that dream or a continuation of that dream again.)**

**XOXO,**

**Mrs-diAngelo25**


End file.
